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Need advice on increasing supply

I have a 4 month old and right now Im pumping 3 times during the time I'm not with her but Im exclusively nursing when I am with her. with each pumping session I'm only getting about 2-3 oz and when she is with my mother she is now taking 6oz of milk for her feedings. Should I increase pumping?

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

Welcome to the forum!

6 ounces is WAY TOO MUCH for a feeding! Baby should be getting 1 to 1.5 ounces per hour apart from you - which it sounds like you are matching, if you are pumping every 2-3 hours.
Bottle-feeding a breastfed baby is different from bottle-feeding a formula-fed baby. Here are some links with a lot of useful information that you might want to go over with your mom:

Basically, your baby should be getting 2-3 ounce bottles, MAX 4 ounces. And this does not change over time. What a lot of moms do is leave 2-3 ounce bottles with a 1 ounce "topper" to be used IF NEEDED.
Commonly a caregiver will say that baby TAKES the 6 oz bottle, therefore she NEEDS the 6 oz bottle. This is not correct. The baby may very well drink 6 oz, because it's easy to drink out of a bottle, and she may like to suck for comfort. This does not mean she needs 6 ounces of milk at that time. One thing to watch out for is using the bottle as a means to soothe the baby. If baby wants to suck, consider offering a pacifier. Or use other methods to soothe the baby - wearing baby in a sling, rocking baby, using a swing etc.
If you are not getting enough out of the pump once you correct the overfeeding problem, we can help you troubleshoot that as well. But first work on the overfeeding.

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

Thanks this is helpful. My mom thinks I'm starving my child so I'm hoping she will comply. I was having such a hard time trying to figure out if I needed to start increasing my pumping or if I should try other methods to increase my supply

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

The pp is absolutely right about your baby being overfed. But you also are pumping a bit on the low side and there are some things you can do to give your pumping output a boost. How long do you pump per session? Do you get more than one letdown per pumping session?

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

Originally Posted by @llli*still.here

The pp is absolutely right about your baby being overfed. But you also are pumping a bit on the low side and there are some things you can do to give your pumping output a boost. How long do you pump per session? Do you get more than one letdown per pumping session?

I usually get about 2 let downs during my 30 min session. I usually feed at midnight, 2 4 and 6 in the morining, then i feed again at 800 then I pump at work at 10 1 and 330 then I feed her again at 530 7 9

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

That's good you're getting two letdowns, though it seems like you should be getting more. What kind of pump are you using? Is it new? Do the shields fit right- no pain or anything when you pump? Have you always pumped this amount or has it recently decreased?

Eating oatmeal can boost supply some, it might net you an extra ounce per day. There are also some herbal supplements like mother's milk tea or fenugreek pills that a lot of moms here have had success with. That's where I'd start, just to see if it helps.

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

Originally Posted by @llli*still.here

That's good you're getting two letdowns, though it seems like you should be getting more. What kind of pump are you using? Is it new? Do the shields fit right- no pain or anything when you pump? Have you always pumped this amount or has it recently decreased?

Eating oatmeal can boost supply some, it might net you an extra ounce per day. There are also some herbal supplements like mother's milk tea or fenugreek pills that a lot of moms here have had success with. That's where I'd start, just to see if it helps.

Im using a hygenia pump its not new the shields fit good I was doing 30 went up to 37 and they are pretty comfortable now before they were causing redness. I was getting more before I was getting between 600-700+ ml per day with 8-9 pumping session. I will add that my baby was born early and was in the nicu for a month and a half so I was exclusively pumping in the beginning when she came home I started just putting her to breast exclusively.

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

It could be that your pump is starting to wear down, particularly since it is not new and you were doing a lot of pumping while your baby was in the nicu. How much use did the pump have on it before this baby? Have you tried replacing the replaceable parts?

Re: Need advice on increasing supply

Originally Posted by @llli*bfwmomof3

It could be that your pump is starting to wear down, particularly since it is not new and you were doing a lot of pumping while your baby was in the nicu. How much use did the pump have on it before this baby? Have you tried replacing the replaceable parts?

I havent tried that. The pump was loaned to me but I think I will look into getting new replacement parts. before I had it I'm not sure how much they were using it so I will have to ask as well.